Like many 20-somethings I grew up watching the 1980s Indiana Jones films and unsurprisingly I reacted to the news of a new one with some trepidation. Could Lucas and Spielberg recreate the magic and would elder-statesman Harrison Ford convince as an action hero? Locked away memories of Roger Moore as a too-old Bond still scar the memory. With this in mind it is a relief to say that 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' delivers in being a perfectly entertaining summer blockbuster.
My doubts about Harrison Ford also proved unfounded with the older indie managing to be nearly as agile and enthusiastic as in the past. In fact, his age is hardly noticeable, except when deliberately drawn attention too with humour and even, at times, to add extra pathos. Shia La Boeuf and Cate Blanchett also provide noticeably good performances, with te latter excelling as a hammy, thick-accented, steely -eyed Ukrainian villianess.
I also enjoyed the fifties setting, with the film encompassing the atom bomb, mods vs rockers and Cold War Paranoia, though the atom bomb scene manages to annoy most others with its implausibility. Speaking of implausibility,the alien element will not please everyone, but are they really anymore as unrealistic than the Ghost King at the end of 'The Last Crusade'? Other quibbles include; the eminent John Hurt seeming rather underused as an eccentric krank and, not unlike many current action films, "...The Crystal Skull" is occasionally over-reliant on C.G.I. For such an example,take note of the unnecessary, patriotic American, swinging monkeys.
Nevertheless, these flaws do not detract from the film managing to be a hugely entertaining, action-packed summer blockbuster. And from the Indiana-Jones what else can you demand?
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